The Karen Read case cost state police more than $250,000

But state police officers also took part in the trial as important – and controversial – witnesses. The data show that the agency paid soldiers and civilian employees more than $9,000 for the time they spent testifying in court, as well as for their testimony and preparation time.

That includes $835.90 for Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the case, for his time on the witness stand and another $313.46 for preparation, according to state police.

Proctor's testimony became the centerpiece of the trial. He had to testify about it Texts he sent to colleagues and friends about Read in which he made crude and misogynistic comments about the defendant's appearance, health and what he perceived to be her guilt. The statement sparked immediate criticism, including from Gov. Maura Healey, and played a role in the defense theory that Read's case was mismanaged, involved a police cover-up and that Proctor was a biased investigator.

After Read's case ended in a mistrial on July 1, state police relieved Proctor of his duties as a detective in Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey's office. State police subsequently suspended Proctor without pay and continue to investigate him. Meanwhile, Morrissey's office has said it will not call Proctor as a witness in the Brian Walshe murder case, even though Proctor was the lead investigator in the disappearance of Walshe's wife Ana.

Read, 44, remains charged with, among other things, second-degree murder in connection with the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe. The case captured the attention of local and national audiences due to the dueling narratives surrounding O'Keefe's death.

Prosecutors say Read drunkenly and intentionally hit O'Keefe with her car after she dropped him off at another Boston police officer's home in Canton following an all-night bar crawl, then left him to die in the snowstorm in the early morning hours of Jan. 29 let, 2022. But Read has claimed that she is being credited with a law enforcement conspiracy, and that O'Keefe was actually beaten by people in the house and bitten by the family dog ​​before his body was dumped in the snow outside.

Morrissey's office has promised to re-examine the case. The second trial is scheduled for January. However, the Supreme Court is considering an appeal from Read, who argues that the judge in the case mishandled the mistrial and that some of the charges should be dismissed.

Sean Cotter can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @cotterreporter.